Tuesday, 5 August 2014

Day one of the holidays (well, nearly, they've got a nursery party tomorrow so it's my last day at work until September) and we made cakes and fudge!Mr Chief decided a few days ago to buy some scones, some strawberry jam and some clotted cream. There's been clotted cream sitting in my fridge for a couple of days (all the scones have been scoffed) so I thought it shouldn't go to waste. Clotted cream fudge - yes please!Ingredients275g sugar (I used normal granualted because that's what I've got, the recipe said to use unrefined blah blah blah)100g golden syrup (this I always have, don't you just love that it's still in a funky tin like our Grandmother's used to use? The squeezy stuff just isn't the same)227g clotted cream½ tsp vanilla essenceWhat to doGet a square tin (or one of those microwave meals plastic tubs, which is what I used) and grease it then line it with greaseproof paper.Bung all the ingredients into a saucepan and heat gently, stirring until it's all blended. Bring it to the boil, cover the pan and boil it for about 3 minutes. Uncover it and continue to boil for a while ( the recipe said to boil it until the temperature reaches 116 °C / 240 °F - I did it for around 5 minutes - about the length of time it took to get both kids a drink and supervise a toilet trip for Master Chief).If you don't have a thermometer (and who does?) you can see if the fudge is ready by dropping a little into a cup of cold water. If it turns into a soft ball, it's ready.Remove the pan from the heat and beat the mixture until it becomes thick, this could take up to 10 minutes. Pour into the prepared tin/tub and leave for 30 minutes. Mark into squares with a knife and leave until set. I always do this too soon and the knife drags though the not-yet-set fudge, try and wait until it's cool and it'll cut a lot neater!Cut it into the pieces that you marked and store in an airtight container.I would have put a picture here - but it's all been eaten! I'm going to make some more though, so I'll update when I can get in quick enough to snap a picture.